2017 nearly comes to an end. It has been a brilliant year MashaAllah. And no matter how much I thank Almighty for everything I have been bestowed with, it will always be less. So here it goes, a brief reflection of my different phase of life this year.

Life as a Learner:

In 2017, I took a plunge. The long awaited dream of doing “Research” has finally come through.

1. The Move: Coming back to University after 7 long years:

First Class After 7 Years:  Yes! You read it right. I am back at University after 7 long years for my Research Masters. It wasn’t an easy decision especially as I had to move from Pakistan to Malaysia, had to leave everything which was all settled, turning my stationary life back to dynamic.

In August 2017, i finally moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for my Applied Computing Research Masters at University of Malaya. To date, the experience has been amazing, both teachers and students are very co-operative, plus plus they very much like my presentations (reminded my of my university days)

And what more, I got a label as IRONMAN of Pakistan given to me by one of my Chinese friend. Plus during this time i learned how to cook.. 😀

Hope to continue the same efforts and accomplish my research within 2018.

2. Working with Middlesex University Group:

Earlier this year I got involved with a research group in the UK in Middlesex University for development of a sensemap tool which is eventually going to help other researchers. It’s been an amazing experience, working and learning with the group. Not only it allowed me to polish my new skills MongoDB and Node.Js but, also taught me how to collaborate especially within an academic circle. The research still continues and I hope one day it can be counted as a good contribution to researcher’s life.

Life as a Business Man: CreativeBoots

As Steve Job says, “Great Things in Business are never done by one person. They are by a team of People”. So for CreativeBoots, It not at all about me, it’s about us. Humair, my cousin, friend, and business partner has been the best of all. This year, we celebrated the 7 great years of our success at CreativeBoots And will InshAllah celebrate many more years to come.

In 2018, our efforts will be to continue with the same passion, lot more energy and will be exploring new grounds for future aspects.

Life As an Entrepreneur

Startups are part of ME, they are very Special to me like a “Child to a Mother”. I never fear of trying new things and never regret on things which potentially help me learn and open new grounds. 2017 has been a year of transformation and a year of new experiments.

1. Transforming Curcle to Interns.pk

This year started with a transformation phase, when after reviewing stats of Curcle, I finally decided to let it go and transform it into a new shape INTERNS.PK. The decision was not so easy, but the data was telling the other story. Students were more on the site for internships rather than discovering the paths. With more than 250K+ students coming just to subscribe for Internships, I really had to honor their need.

The journey which started from “Reevolo” in 2009, “IDENTIFI” in 2011 and “CURCLE” in 2014 continues as INTERNS came to its existence in 2017.
The mission remains the same, but the platform is different.

“Interns is the platform that connects employers and students for internship & fresh job opportunities with an aim to help students build a solid foundation and help companies get their future possible hiree”. Since the launch of INTERNS on 14th Jan 2017, the response has been commendable, the number tells the real story within the first 6 months INTERNS managed to get 15K+ users which are ever growing till date.

Apart from that what really makes me feel better inside is when I hear students, startups or companies saying “Thank You Interns Pakistan” : )
So a lot to carry forward in 2018 for INTERNS and focus will remain the same “to help individuals to lead successful, meaningful & fulfilling lives”.

2. Turning a product dream into a reality: OnePush

You may not have heard a lot from me about OnePush, but it’s another of my brainchild on which I have been working lately. It came into existence in December 2016 as an idea to create a single platform with a set of tools to help myself manage customers and their site for traffic growth. In 2017, I put this idea into shape and called it as OnePush with a concept of helping to increase customers with just a single Push using the tools.

This year I managed to launch around 4 tools, currently, 50 sites are using it with 10% of them being the premium users.

The goal of 2017 was to launch, use it personally, experiment and improve, share it with others, get feedback and most importantly learn how to sell a product. Glad all of them have been achieved.

Again a lot to look into in 2018 for OnePush, create more tools for helping self and others and do a lot more SALES : )

Life as a Traveller

Life is incomplete without traveling. For me to travel is to live, as they said in Urdu I am the BECHEN BOTI.

The initial part of the year was stationary due to work and commitments. But lately, I manage to travel and grab some time off to experience some of the very best breathtaking places such as Mossy forest, Penang Hills, Bukit Tinggi, IPOH etc.Credits to my Super brother who has some flying wings, showed us some new locations across the KL which we managed to explore with family.

Hopefully, in 2018 I will be able to mark many more spots on the world map.

My Family

I am incomplete without my family. Thanks to Almighty for blessing me with the world greatest family. May Allah keep us HAPPY all together forever. Ameen. It’s due to my parents and my brother support that I manage to reach this place for this year and accomplish all my year goals. Without MAMA force i wouldnt have been in KL either, as i had fear of losing family back, but she insisted to move to learn more and Shahrukh helped me through writing the research proposal which i needed the most at the time of applying in universities : )

Thanks to Almighty Allah for a blessed and healthy family. In 2018, we need more focus in our family towards our health and need to walk, walk and walk.

To Summarize

Overall an eventful year coming to an end.
The year has taken me up to the new levels and Almighty has blessed me in all aspects.
Thanks to all those who have contributed to my life.

Regards,
Shahzaib Khan.